UF Student Self-Deported to Colombia After Traffic Stop

A UF student has chosen to self-deport to his home country of Colombia after being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following a traffic stop late last month, an ICE spokesperson confirmed Wednesday.

According to police records, on March 28, Felipe Zapata Velásquez, a 27-year-old food and resource economics international student in his junior year, was arrested by the Gainesville Police Department for driving with an expired license and registration tag. On March 31, Alachua County Jail officials released Zapata Velásquez to the custody of ICE, which then transported him to the Krome Detention Center in Miami for further processing.

On April 6, ICE confirmed Zapata Velásquez's voluntary departure to Colombia, an ICE spokesperson tells New Times.

Zapata Velásquez is just one of nearly 300 international students who have been abruptly stripped of their ability to stay in the U.S. in recent weeks.

In some cases, immigration officials have arrested international students for their involvement in pro-Palestinian causes. However, in other cases, the arrests were due to legal violations, such as speeding or driving under the influence, which often occurred years earlier.

Zapata Velásquez's detainment by ICE marked what appeared to be the first reported case of a Florida college student being picked up by the federal agency amid President Donald Trump's latest immigration crackdown.

According to an ICE spokesperson, Zapata Velásquez, who was in the United States under an F-1 visa, which allows international students to study in the U.S., was admitted into the country on February 12, 2023, in Orlando, Florida, as an F-1 student to attend Santa Fe College in Gainesville.

Zapata Velásquez reportedly graduated from Santa Fe College in 2023. Afterward, the UF International Center helped with his transition to UF, according to the Independent Florida Alligator. However, an ICE spokesperson says his student status was terminated from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) in October 2024 due to his failure to enroll. (Students need to enroll in SEVIS at the start of each school year to maintain their F-1 status).
Despite this, a UF spokesperson tells New Times that Zapata Velásquez is currently enrolled at the university and was also enrolled last fall.

The spokesperson declined to comment on his visa status, citing student privacy laws.

The UF chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America planned a last-minute campus protest this afternoon against the detainment of Zapata Velázquez and other students across the country.

"The case of Felipe Zapata Velázquez is just one of many cases we've seen across Florida and the U.S. where immigrants are targeted for deportation by ICE after local agencies arrest them for minor infractions," the group wrote in an Instagram post.

Zapata Velásquez's mother told the Colombian news channel NTN24 that her son was in the process of renewing his visa when he was arrested. ICE, she says, gave her son her two options following his arrest: to go to jail while his case is resolved in immigration court or sign his own deportation order.

"He's a brilliant boy; he's an athlete. We want him to be given the opportunity to finish his degree and return to Colombia," his mother told NTN24. "He has no other intentions."

This is a breaking story and will be updated as events warrant.